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| August 04, 2012 |
| Team News: Two Poles and Win for Buddy Rice Karting at SKUSA SummerNationals |
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 | Matt Johnson
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Buddy Rice Karting (BRK) headed to Tooele, Utah for the SKUSA ProTour SummerNats with high expectations. “The guys have been in top form at the Pro Kart Challenge events this season” said Seth Nash, race team manager at BRK. “We carried that momentum with us into our Utah test two weeks ago, and we knew the guys could deliver on race weekend.” The hot and windy conditions kept all the teams on edge, but that did little to stop the nine man BRK team from grabbing poles, reaching the podium, and seizing a fantastic TAG Sr. win via Matt Johnson.
Matt Johnson led the way for team BRK with his first ProTour win of 2012, but all the BRK TAG Sr. drivers had impressive stints in their Energy karts. John Wallace III, Travis Lowe and Matt Johnson all were within the top ten in the latter rounds of practice. Wallace had a solid performance in Saturday's heat race #1, while Lowe cracked the top five in heat two. The final didn't go quite as planned with Wallace the top finisher in 12th and Fernandez 19th. Both Lowe and Johnson's races ended early. Sunday things really came together for the BRK TAG Sr. drivers as Johnson (6th) and Lowe (9th) both qualified in the top ten. Heat one saw Johnson moved up to 3rd, Lowe up to 6th and Fernandez gain ten spots for 20th. Heat two was another step up the racing ladder as Johnson won the race with Lowe coming away in 3rd. The final was fantastic for the team as Johnson and Lowe worked together to best a field of 37 drivers. Johnson regained the lead on lap seven, but Lowe got caught out and missed the move. The result was Johnson winning by nearly a second and Lowe having to fight in the ten kart pack for 6th place.
The BRK Juniors also had some success on the weekend with Christian Brooks qualifying P2 in TAG Juniors. Bad luck in heat one saw Brooks fall well back, but Nathan Seegrist and Thomas Boost rose to the occasion and finished the heat in 7th and 8th. Heat two saw three of the BRK juniors hovering around the top ten, but in the Final Brooks gained some of the ground back that he had lost to just miss the podium in 6th place. Brooks was ready for a fight on Sunday, taking the pole with a time of 59.481. Brooks dropped to 3rd in heat one but Christian Munoz fought his way up to 6th and Boost finished 9th. Heat two shuffled the field again but at the end of the 16 lap main event both Brooks and Munoz were in the hunt for a podium position. Brooks finished his weekend in 6th and Munoz in 7th. Seegrist came away with 13th, Marco Eakins 20th and Boost in 26th after his day ended on lap two.
Dante Yu was the only BRK representative in TAG Cadet and he did a fine job in Utah with a pole and a 3rd place finish. Saturday didn't go well for Yu in qualifying as he didn't take a lap and was forced to start from the back. As the heat races progressed he gained position after position and finished an impressive 3rd place in the final. Sunday qualifying went better as Yu turned a 48.801 for the pole position. Unfortunately his day ended only a few laps into the main event and the pole was all he got for the day's efforts.
Drivers under the BRK Trackside Support tent at ProTour SummerNats: Travis Lowe, John Wallace, Alejo Fernandez, Christian Brooks, Thomas Boost, Marco Eakins, Christian Munoz, Nathan Seegrist, and Dante Yu
Owned by 2004 Indy 500 winner and 2009 24 Hours of Daytona winner Buddy Rice, Buddy Rice Karting LLC is the official importer of Energy Karts, Frixa Brake Pads ,OTK kart parts and proud distributors of OMP, Uni Pro and Rotax. Buddy Rice Karting services dealers across the United States and Mexico and competes in several national and regional race series including Gatorz, IKF, and SKUSA. BRK is conveniently located just 5 minutes from the CalSpeed Karting Center.
http://Www.buddyricekarting.com
Call 909.854.5350 or Fax 909.854.5333
Contact Marc Miller Jr. (marc@buddyricekarting.com) for dealer information and territories. |
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